Noah's Quest - 3. The Afterglow

Chase completely caught me by surprise and totally blew my mind.

I never would have guessed someone like him was interested in men. Maybe he was bisexual—I honestly didn't know. What I did know was that he was patient, kind, and easy to talk to. For the first time in a long time, I felt comfortable being myself around someone.

After spending nearly the entire weekend together, we eventually fell asleep curled up in my bed.

I was still half asleep when I heard someone throw open the bedroom door.

My eyes snapped open.

Standing in the doorway was Grandma.

"Shit," I muttered.

Beside me, Chase stirred awake.

"Noah, do you have any idea what time it is?" Grandma asked, arms crossed.

"No," I answered quietly.

"You arrived home on Saturday. It is now Monday afternoon."

Uh-oh.

Based on the look on her face, Grandma was absolutely furious.

"I'm sorry, Grandma."

"Noah, you stood your grandfather up. He had meetings scheduled for you to attend so you could learn more about the business. He called multiple times and everything went straight to voicemail."

Her gaze shifted to Chase.

"And you, Mr. Andrews."

Chase looked like he wanted the mattress to swallow him whole.

Somehow this situation kept getting worse.

Then we heard footsteps in the hallway.

"Mom, I can't find Chase anyw—"

Uncle Matt appeared in the doorway and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Wow," he said after a long pause. "I definitely didn't have this on my bingo card."

Grandma shot him a look.

"We're both adults," I said defensively.

I could practically see Grandma recalculating the situation in her head.

"Could you give us a few minutes to get dressed?" I asked.

"You have fifteen minutes," Grandma replied. "Not a minute longer."

She stormed out of the room.

Uncle Matt lingered for a moment, clearly trying to figure out what exactly was happening. Finally, he shook his head and followed her.

The second the door closed, Chase and I hurried to get cleaned up and dressed.

Fifteen minutes later, we made our way downstairs.

Grandma and Uncle Matt were sitting on the patio when we joined them.

"Nice of you two to finally emerge," Grandma said dryly. "Sit down. We need to talk."

Neither of us argued.

The silence stretched for several moments.

Finally Grandma spoke.

"Noah, after Shiloh broke up with you, you fell apart. You've been struggling for months. I let you move here so you'd have some space and so you could focus on work and school."

I looked down at the table.

"Now suddenly I find you and Chase hiding away for two days."

"No one was hiding," I said quietly.

"Perhaps not intentionally."

Uncle Matt rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"This is going to cause complications."

I sighed.

"Why?"

"Because Chase is part of the family," Uncle Matt replied.

Before I could respond, Chase squeezed my hand.

"Mrs. Jacobs, Matt, I didn't plan for any of this," he said. "But once Noah and I started talking, we connected. It wasn't just attraction. We genuinely enjoyed being around each other."

I could hear the sincerity in his voice.

Grandma's expression softened slightly.

"What are you saying, Chase?"

"I'm saying Noah deserves someone who sees him for who he is. At the beach, everyone noticed how he looked, but that's not what stood out to me. We talked for hours. He was honest with me. We connected."

I swallowed hard.

"Grandma, I've connected with Chase more easily than I connected with anyone else. It just feels... right."

Grandma and Uncle Matt exchanged a look.

After a long silence, Grandma finally spoke.

"Noah, family prophecies have never been wrong."

I sighed.

"Grandma, I'm not pursuing Shiloh anymore. I've tried. I've moved on. He's moved on too."

The table fell silent.

"Did it have to be Chase?" Uncle Matt asked.

Chase raised an eyebrow.

"Did you have to marry Brody? Did Ted have to marry Asher?"

That earned a reluctant laugh from Uncle Matt.

"I'm just worried about the fallout."

"From who?" I asked.

"Damian and Dominic," he answered.

That surprised me.

"Why would they care?"

Uncle Matt looked toward Chase.

"Because he's their uncle."

Understanding dawned on me.

Grandma leaned forward.

"I can't tell either of you who to date. But I am asking you to be cautious. Keep this private for now until everyone has had time to process things."

"We can do that," I said.

Chase nodded.

"Good."

Grandma pointed at me.

"And you are calling your grandfather immediately and apologizing."

"Yes, Grandma."

Then she turned toward Chase.

"And you take care of my grandson."

"Yes, ma'am," Chase replied with a grin.

To my surprise, he even gave her a mock salute.

The meeting ended shortly after that.

When Grandma and Uncle Matt left, Chase and I collapsed onto the couch in the family room.

"Your grandmother is terrifying," Chase said.

I laughed.

"I think she needs a Snickers."

That got a laugh out of him too.

The rest of the afternoon was spent cleaning up the house, opening windows, and trying to erase all evidence that we'd disappeared from society for two days.

A little while later, the doorbell rang.

I opened it to find Grandpa standing there.

He stepped inside and glanced around.

"You know," he said thoughtfully, "for two people who ignored their phones for forty-eight hours, this place looks surprisingly clean."

I groaned.

Chase immediately turned red.

Grandpa laughed.

"Relax. Your grandmother already filled me in."

"Sorry, Grandpa."

His expression became serious.

"I expect you at work on time tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

"I've given you plenty of opportunities, Noah. If you weren't my grandson, I'd have fired you by now."

That one stung.

Chase noticed immediately.

"Mr. Jacobs, this is partly my fault."

Grandpa shook his head.

"No. Noah is an adult. He's responsible for his own choices."

"Yes, sir."

Grandpa looked at me.

"I expect you to keep your commitments."

"I will."

He nodded once before heading back toward the door.

As soon as he left, Chase let out a long breath.

"Your family is intense."

I laughed.

"That's one word for it."

He shook his head.

"I think I need a vacation after surviving that."

Before I could answer, his phone buzzed on the coffee table.

He picked it up and looked at the screen.

"It's Brody."